A set of good economic data and China boosted investor sentiment, as well as comments from Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic, who said he favored "slow and steady" interest-rate rises.

Among stocks, Rightmove fell 2.5% although it posted a 6.9% rise in 2022 pretax profit. Pearson fell 1.3% although it announced that it topped expectations in 2022 after an 11% gain in underlying operating profits to £456 million. This is because it anticipates revenue decline in both its virtual learning and higher education units.

Macquarie is reportedly considering a takeover bid for U.K. insurer M&G of GBP 6.5 billion.

 

Things to read today:

France is becoming the new Britain (Financial Times)

FTX Says $8.9 Billion in Customer Funds Are Missing (WSJ)

Bankers Pitch Arm IPO at $30 Billion to $70 Billion Valuation (Bloomberg)